This invention relates to a disposable wipe-out sheet suitable for wiping out dust and/or dirt from floor or wall surface.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-135798A describes a disposable wipe-out sheet comprising a heat-sealable base sheet and a plurality of heat-sealable filaments bonded to the base sheet and extending in one direction. In this wipe-out sheet of prior art, the filaments are heat-sealed with the base sheet by a plurality of sealing lines extending transversely of the filaments and arranged intermittently in the axial direction of the filaments. Between each pair of the adjacent sealing lines, a plurality of filaments describe arcs which are convex upward from the heat-sealable base sheet so that dust and/dirt are caught and held in spaces or gaps defined by the base sheet and the arc-shaped filaments.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-149873A describes a disposable wipe-out base sheet comprising a heat-sealable base sheet and a brush-like layer provided on one surface of the heat-sealable base sheet. The brush-like layer is obtained by deregistering or opening a tow which is a bundle of heat-sealable filaments and then cutting them into an appropriate length. With such a wipe-out sheet having such brush-like layer, the filaments cut in appropriate length function like brush bristles enabling dust and/dirt to be effectively wiped out. The filaments cut in appropriate length advantageously move into narrow spaces or gaps often present on a floor or wall surface and thereby catch dust and/dirt retained in these spaces or gaps.
The wipe-out sheet described in the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1997-135798A is certainly advantageous in that dust and/or dirt can be caught between the heat-sealable base sheet and the filaments describing arcs above the base sheet and then reliably held against falling off from the wipe-out sheet. However, the filaments can not easily move into narrow spaces or gaps and catch dust and/dirt present therein.
The wipeout sheet described in the Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 1997-149873 is certainly convenient in that the filaments can smoothly move into narrow spaces or gaps and catch dust and/or dirt present therein. However, there is no constructional feature adapted to reliably hold dust and/or dirt once caught. While it is desired to impregnate the filaments with any suitable surfactant to over come this problem, this would inevitably increase a manufacturing cost of the wipe-out sheet.
As will be understood from the foregoing description, thee wipeout sheets prior art have both advantages and disadvantages. It is an object of this invention to provide a disposable wipe-out sheet and a process for making the same.
According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a disposable wipe-out sheet comprising a heat-sealable base sheet and a plurality of heat-sealable long fibers heat-sealed with said base sheet and extending in one direction.
In such a disposable wipe-out sheet the long fibers are bonded to the base sheet by a plurality of sealing lines arranged intermittently to extend in a direction crossing the one direction; bridge-like portions each formed by a group of said long fibers extending between each pair of the adjacent sealing lines are arranged intermittently in the direction crossing the one direction; and another group of the long fibers lying between each pair of the bridge-like portions adjacent to each other in the direction crossing the one direction and extending between the pair of the adjacent sealing lines have respective lengths thereof severed in two sections of which at least the respective one sections can fluff on the base sheet with proximal ends thereof defined by the associated one of the sealing lines.
This invention relating to the wipe-out sheet includes embodiments as follows:
The heat-sealable base sheet is formed from a nonwoven fabric of thermoplastic synthetic fiber or a film of thermoplastic synthetic resin.
The heat-sealable long fibers are made of crimped conjugated fibers.
The heat-sealable base sheet is formed in a vicinity of zones in which the groups of the long fibers have respective lengths thereof severed in two sections with slits arranged intermittently in the direction crossing the one direction and said heat sealable base sheet is molten and solidified along peripheral edges of these slits.
The thermoplastic synthetic fiber of the nonwoven fabric are molten and solidified along the peripheral edges of the slits and thereby bonded together.
According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a process for making a disposable wipe-out sheet comprising a heat-sealable sheet and a plurality of heat-sealable long fibers heat-sealed base with the base sheet and extending in one direction.
In such a process, this invention comprises the steps of bonding the long fibers to the base sheet by a plurality of sealing lines extending in a direction crossing the one direction and arranged intermittently in the one direction; and pressing a cutter against an assembly of the long fibers and the heat-sealable base sheet so that plural groups of the long fibers extending between each pair of adjacent the sealing lines have respective lengths thereof severed in two sections and at the same time the heat-sealable base sheet is formed with slits whereupon the heat-sealable base sheet is molten and solidified along peripheral edges of the slits.
According to one embodiment this invention comprises the steps of: bonding the long fibers to upper and lower surfaces of the heat-sealable base sheet; and pressing the cutter against the assembly of the long fibers and the heat-sealable base sheet so that a plurality of long fibers lying on both surfaces of the heat-sealable base sheet are severed at once whereupon the heat-sealable base sheet is molten and solidified along the peripheral edges of the slits.